ANCIENT HISTORY

Chilling Discovery: 500-Year-Old Remains of Three Children Sacrificed in Incan Ritual

The Children of Llullaillaco are as remarkable as their amazingly preserved bodies buried five centuries ago on a 22,000-feet high mountain

A victim of human sacrifice, she is known as “Maiden of Llullaillaco”. Image by Groover Pedro, CC BY 2.0

The Inca civilization was the largest pre-Columbian era indigenous empire in the Americas from around the years 1400 to 1533 CE (or AD), occupying much of Peru and covering a large portion of western South America, including Bolivia, Ecuador, and into what is now Chile.

The Inca started as a small tribe, grew more powerful, and conquered other tribes along the coast from Colombia to Argentina. One of their greatest contributions is building a network of roads throughout the region and they are also known for contributing much to architecture and religion.

It is interesting to note that their religion included the “Capacocha” ceremony, which was an important sacrificial rite involving child sacrifices.

Who Are the Children of Llullaillaco?

The Children of Llullaillaco are three strikingly intact Inca mummies of children killed in sacrifice rituals sometime in the 1500s, discovered in 1999, entombed…